On Thursday, May 15, 2025, the Gelderland Culture and Heritage Monitor was launched. This monitor provides insight into developments in the value of culture and heritage in Gelderland. Gelderland has many museums, libraries, and performing arts venues that are well attended, as shown by the monitor.
Published on: May 16, 2025

Photo: Bram van Oosterhout

2nd Edition

With a festive kickoff at the Maurits Barracks in Ede with word artist Lev Avitan and a dance performance by young people from Studio26, the 2nd edition of the monitor officially went live. The 1st Culture Monitor was released in 2022. This 2nd edition also includes heritage, libraries, and data from the various Gelderland regions.

Insight with Data

The Culture and Heritage Monitor provides insight into developments such as audience reach and employment in Gelderland. These are the social, economic, and artistic values of culture and heritage. We believe it is important to base policy choices on facts. Working with current and reliable data helps to track developments, see trends in time, and make targeted investments in a sector that is of great value to our residents.

That is Valuable

This 2nd monitor provides a rich picture of how culture and heritage stand in the different regions of our province. That is valuable. The insights from this monitor help us – together with municipalities, institutions, and creators – to invest purposefully in a cultural infrastructure that is robust and responds to what is happening in society.

Deputy Peter Drenth

Province of Gelderland

Stronger than Before the Corona Period

The creative sector in our province recovered well after the corona period, stronger than the national average. This is shown by the figures on employment, the number of self-employed individuals, and business establishments. The arts and heritage sectors are even economically better off than before the corona pandemic.

This recovery is largely due to the sector itself: cultural institutions in Gelderland have become financially more independent. For every euro of subsidy, the 151 cultural institutions earned €0.43 in 2021 and €0.66 in 2022. Their own revenues increased from €75 million in 2021 to €119 million in 2022, especially in film/AV/media and venues. This was mainly due to increased audience revenues.

Residents Culturally Active Themselves

Especially museums are often visited in Gelderland: more than 3.5 million visitors in 2023. Only the museums in North Holland and South Holland are visited more often.

The monitor also shows that Gelderlanders continue to appreciate culture and heritage. Culture is widely practiced. Culture and heritage are often visited, with 89% of residents attending at least one cultural activity and 74% visiting a heritage site or event in the past year. And 78% are culturally active themselves. Gelderland has a relatively high number of amateur arts, such as harmonies, choirs, and theater groups.

Collaboration

This monitor was explicitly developed together with other parties. The Province of Gelderland is the client. The organization and coordination were managed by the provincial support institutions Cultuur Oost, Erfgoed Gelderland, and Rijnbrink. The research was conducted by the Boekman Foundation, Het PON & Telos, and Pyrrhula Research Consultants.

The Culture and Heritage Monitor has been fully published online, including a dashboard with figures and regional profiles: http://www.cultuurmonitorgelderland.nl